Singapore Economy could Contract 0.8% in 2020: S&P Global

Amid ongoing economic slowdown and crash of stock markets due to the COVID-9 pandemic, the world financial impact is gravely impacted. According to a forecast by S&P Global, the economy of Singapore may shrink by 0.8% in 2020 owning to Coronavirus outbreak. The economy of this South Asian country was gained by 0.9% in 2019. This financial analytics and research firm are expecting the contraction in the size of economies of other major Asia-pacific countries such as Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan. It is important to note that these economies are terribly impacted by this deadly virus outbreak and consequently lockdown their border for the movement of goods or tourists. Furthermore, the normal production and manufacturing sectors are also shut down as a precautionary measure to contain this virus spread. The retail and hospitality industry is the worst hit and results in massive loss due to reduced number of customers and contribute to the loss of economic growth of the nations.

The epicenter of this virus outbreak, China, is also expected to see a considerable fall in its yearly growth. The Gross Domestic Product of this largest Asian nation is expected to decrease by 2.9 percent in 2020. The prediction of this American financial firm includes an estimated loss of USD 620 billion in total and massive income and employment loss.

In its Asia-pacific economy forecast, S&P Global said that the average growth of Singapore would be around 2.7 percent in 2020, considering the current situation of this pandemic. In addition, a Singaporean multinational financial firm, DBS bank, estimated a 0.5 percent shrink of the economy in 2020, in contrast to its prediction of 0.9 percent growth in its last month forecast.

The Global Economic will have a long-lasting Impact

Along with the negative impact of this outbreak on the country level, the global economy will also suffer for years because of this pandemic, said Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OEC) general secretary Angel Gurria.

In a report to BBC, Angel Gurria said the disastrous consequences of this contagious virus outbreak would be bigger than the financial crisis witnessed in the past. He said the slowdown layoffs caused by this pandemic is already shocked many economy and acknowledging the uncertainty of this ongoing crisis, it would be too optimistic to expect a global growth of 1.5 percent. The upcoming quarters will be a period of recession for many countries and these economics will suffer from the fallout for many years, he further added. To avoid worsening the situation and reduce the financial damage, he further suggested that the countries should take firm and effective step to uplift the already market and find a proper treatment to this virus.